Chapter Two: Two out, off, and into the world
Leo had to push his was through as firemarshals, hospital staff and patients came running part him. His fears were becoming too overwhelming as he could only think of what might have caused this burst of mad hysteria. Pushing through more people, he soon found the room where the alleged Prue Halliwell was being kept. Numerous doctors were trying to restrain her as she had a wild look in her eye and she kept on repreating to be let go. One of the doctors suddenly noticed Leo standing in the doorway.
"Who are you?" He asked.
Leo thought for a split second, "I'm her brother-in-law. Can I please help her?"
The doctor made a space for Leo to sit down next to her and, as Leo could see it, the woman was indeed as split-image of Prue Halliwell.
"Let me go, dammit!" She thundered. "I need to see my sisters, I need to see…Leo!" She tore away from the doctors holding her and took Leo into a hard embrace.
"Thank God you're here." She said, and she then began to weep.
Leo looked around and was amazed by the destruction of the room.
"Whoever this woman is, she's caused quite the damage." Said one of he doctors. "We're trying to get her to take a sedative to calm herself down, but she's refusing to do anything until she sees her sisters."
Leo nodded and gently patted "Prue" on the back. He turned to the others. "Any idea on who she is? As Far as I know, Prue Halliwell died six months ago."
The doctor, Marx, whom Leo met earlier, nodded. "Were still waiting back on the blood tests, though buy a visual standpoint she does remarkably look like her.
"That's because I am her, you idiot!" Prue bit back at the doctor. She then looked pleadingly at Leo. "Leo, what's going on? Where's Piper? Where's Phoebe? I'm sure they could come down here and clean up this mess."
Leo looked deep into her eyes, trying to detect anything that would dispel the doubts that were lingering in his mind about the person that was standing before him. It was hard, she looked so remarkably like the woman whom he had held her wife's head against his shoulder, crying, after learning of her passing. Nobody; neither here on Earth nor above could tell him otherwise. He feared that even Piper, Phoebe, and even Paige could really give a definitive answer.
A woman stepped in to confer with one of the doctors. "Excuse me, Dr. Kellerman? A Inspector Morris is here to interview the patient."
"Morris?" Prue looked at the nurse, hopeful at the name of a dear friend.
"Could we have a moment alone?" Leo asked everyone in the room, with the exception of "Prue".
Everyone murmured their permission and soon the room began to vacate, As soon as it did, Leo tore himself away from "Prue" and began passing at the opposite end of the,, now, expanded room.
As soon as they had all gone, Prue looked to Leo. "Has Piper and Phoebe found out anything as to why I've come back, or have you and the Elders?"
Leo sighed, "No, their too busy with Paige trying to figure out whose been framing Cole in these Balthazar-like attacks."
Prue raised an eyebrow, "Paige? Whose she?"
Leo looked to "Prue" in surprise, and then laughed, ruefully. "Aw yes, of course you haven't heard." He decided, now, to play this innocently until he, and possibly the three girls, could find out who this woman is.
"She's your third sister, Prue. Half-sister, actually. Your mother and Sam are her parents."
Prue, too, laughed ruefully as she stood up. "Wait, wait, let me get this straight. Mom and Sam had a daughter? Paige, is it?"
Leo nodded.
"Well, why didn't she tell us?"
Leo smirked, "Well, you know how taboo the issue is with "Witch and Whiteligters" are. It was kept in secret, even from you three."
Prue sighed as she sat herself back down on the bed. "Great. More secrets."
A humming sound occurred, one which only Leo could hear, causing him to look upward as if he was receiving a message; he then turned back to Piper.
"They're calling me." He said.
"My sisters?" Prue asked, hopefully.
Leo shook his head; "the Elders. I'll be back shortly, promise. In the meantime, promise ME that you'll refrain from using your powers and instead use your head on how to explain all of this. Luckily, Morris will be here, however, telling him your back is going to be difficult."
Prue smiled, "I can handle it. Please tell me what those old-farts know and where to go from here.'
Leo nodded and soon was engulfed in a brilliant blue light as his body turned into millions of bluish-white orbs that came spiraling out of the room and into the ceiling. Just as soon as he had left, Inspector Morris arrived and he froze upon seeing Prue in the room and what had become of it.
"You're dead." He said, his eyes in wide-disbelief.
Prue sighed, "That's what everyone keep on telling me.
Thankfully, Morris had her labeled as a "Jane Doe", knowing fully well that a woman being marked as deceased only to have fully reemerged would arouse suspicion, not only for her but for Morris who was the Investigator at the scene of her homicide. That and it would cause alarm for the girls, which both Prue and Morris felt should be left out of it until Leo could arrive with a final decision on the matter on where or not she was in fact dead.
Morris had Prue wait in a holding room at the precinct and made damn sure no one was to enter, as it was well known that Prue had been a frequent visitor to the police station and many of the officers had her in fresh memory.
Prue, however, longed for her sister to enter those doors. To assure them that all was alright that she was back; and maybe meet her new estranged sister Paige and see what kind of person she was. Another thought, albeit a discomforting one, was to see her father again. To go to the attic and summon Grams and maybe Mom, let them know she was alright and back in action. Prue reminded herself that first things were first. She HAD to know why she was brought back and for what purpose. If this was to be a short-time, thing, then she'd rather not add more grief to those who've possibly have gotten on after her passing.
Prue laughed to herself, this hasn't been the first time she had died and to have been brought back. Yet, judging by Leo's expression and attitude, this one wasn't expected.
Speaking of the Whitelighter, Prue shielded her eyes as Leo came into focus. To add more, she held firmly to her chair as a shimmer came in and Cole appeared right next to him.
His mouth gaped open and he starred at her and then to Leo.
"How-?"
Leo waived a hand, dismissing the inquiry and looked to Prue.
"Well, here's what I know. You ARE Prue Halliwell and the Elders are mystified as to how you became re-coporalized without their knowledge. Further more, after I first reported this, they've been trying to bring you back to the spiritual plane, but with no success." He then looked to Cole, whose eyes were fixated on Prue. "I was hoping that our half-demon friend, here, could lend a hand and go underground to see if someone down there's been up to this."
Cole removed his gaze from Prue and looked reluctantly at Leo. "Well sure, I guess I could, but it's going to be hard since that bounty hasn't exactly gone away. Plus, since what you say about the Elders is true, if the Source gets any word of this he'll be just as interested and might try something." He then turned his le pointed at Prue, "Not too mention, Phoebe's going to be extra curious seeing as how I'm not going to be around that very much."
Prue sighed. She really hated it when Cole tiptoed around responsibility and ended up making lame half-ass excuses for himself. "Cole, just do it, won't ya?"
Cole groaned and then nodded. Soon, he shimmered away, leaving just Prue and Leo alone.
Leo waited until he was fully gone until he went over and sat down next to Prue.
"Hasn't changed much since I died, has he?" Prue smiled.
"Sure hasn't." Leo agreed. "Now, Prue, the Elders have instructed me to act as your Whitelighter SEPARATE away from Piper, Phoebe, and Paige."
"What!" Prue got up and strolled to the back of the room in a huff. "Why!"
Leo sighed, "Well…with Paige with them, they reinitiated the "Power of Three", they're the Charmed Ones, now."
Prue bitterly chuckled, "I guess there's no such thing as the "Power of Four", is there?"
Leo shook his head.
Prue sighed, "Where does that leave me, Leo? I still have my powers, which by the way seem to have an extra "oomph" to them. What do the "almighty ones" want me to do? Where do I go from here?"
Leo sighed and walked to her, putting two hands on her shoulders. "Be as you've always been, Prue. Strong, smart, noble, and powerful. Protect innocents wherever you may find them. Your sisters are doing fine with Paige; I've seen it for myself. In the meantime, I'll still be working alongside you, helping you, in whatever way that I can; you can guarantee that."
Prue thought for a moment, sighing in between pauses, and then she turned back to Leo. "How do you think they'll react to seeing me alive again?"
This question seemed to strike a nerve as Leo closed his eyes and backed away.
"Leo?"
Leo rubbed his face and then turned back to Prue.
"Prue…The Elders, they…"
"They what?" Prue said, her voice firmer as she felt something negative was about to come next.
Leo sighed, "They aren't going to allow you to stay at the Halliwell Manor, nor see your sisters. I'm instructed to forbid it."
Prue, then, changed from astonished to furious and she waived her hand at the table standing between them causing it to flip over and crash against the wall.
"What! Are you serious?!"
Leo put two hands in front of himself, trying to be reasonable in the way he talked. "The Elders feel that your awakening could cause a distraction for the three and, therefore, jeopardize their future missions. There has been a longstanding rule of their only being a "Power of Three" with the Halliwells. If you were to come back into their lives, the combination of your magic and theirs could be catastrophic if not devastating. The Elders want you to go solo."
Prue exerted a deep air of grudge and went back to her chair, crossing her arms and stood looking at the floor, breathing deeply. Her eyes darted back and forth before she closed them and breathed in, deeply.
"What do they want me to do, then?"
Leo smiled, "Well, while they try to find out more about how you got brought back here, they've told me to send you to a safe-way house where I have a number of other witches. But before I even do that…" Leo walked forward and slowly waived his hand in front of Prue's face as her hair became longer and tinted with royal purple streaks and her lips stained black. Finally, her nose was fitted with a nose ring and several tattoos came into place on her arms.
"There we go." He said.
Prue went to the two-way mirror and checked her reflection, looking, at first, aghast at her new appearance and then somewhat comical.
"Really? This is how I'm going to look from now on? Like some Goth-chick?"
Leo smirked and nodded, "This is the only way to deceive your appearance long enough for Morris to fill out his paper work and not to arouse suspicion that you are, indeed, a person who has come back from the dead.
Prue turned to him, "How long does it last?"
Leo sighed, "As long as both you and I live."
Prue nodded, appreciatively. Just then, Cole shimmered back in, looking extremely worn out.
"Well," he laughed, despite himself, "Bad news is that they do know you're back, Prue, but good news is, is that you're angrier than ever that someone has done this." He finally took notice of the "new" Prue and fell back into a laughing state.
"Wow! Look at you! If only your sisters could see you now, Lisa Marie Priestly."
Prue went into a saddened huddle and Leo gave a quick glare at Cole.
"What?" Cole asked, defensively.
Then, Both Leo and Cole looked up at the inaudible chimes that were being given off, both groaning.
"I see yo both have to go." Prue said, disappointed.
"Piper."
"Phoebe"
The two said in unison and seemed to shrug at the same time as well. Prue restrained herself from laughing at this. Leo handed Prue a piece of paper with a marked address on it.
"Here's the safe house, please take care of yourself, in the meantime. I'll try to get in contact with you more often."
Prue nodded, smiling; "Thank you, both of you. And Cole," She raised a finger and looked at him with dead seriousness; "Not a word of any of this to Phoebe! Understood?"
Cole rolled his eyes and nodded and soon shimmered away.
Leo smiled to Prue, "I'll keep an eye on him, don't worry." He then gave Prue another hug before orbing away. Inspector soon replaced him
Morris who looked befuddled at the new woman sitting in the room.
Prue smiled, "Like the new look?"
It seemed with the new appearance and a declaration of having amnesia allowed Prue to be released the police station. Morris offered to drive and Prue asked him to stop by her own place but never got out. She had already explained to the Inspector her peculiar circumstances and restrictions, which were responded, by Morris, with the usual "I don't want to know about it."
Watching what was no longer her house, Prue could see inside Piper in the kitchen fixing dinner and in the living room Phoebe, with a girl Prue could only assume could be Paige, tugged back and forth the remote. Leo soon appeared, orbed, rather, into the kitchen and gave his wife a tender kiss on the cheek.
All the while, on the radio in Morris' car, Michelle Branch's Goodbye To You played, which, to Prue, felt sadly appropriate for this moment where she could glance at her sisters, and her newest one, before leaving them. After taking a few more moments, Prue sighed and then told Morris to drive on to the Safe house, which would become her new home.
A man in an orange jumpsuit sat in his room reading a novel he had buyed from another cellmate, thumping to the next page as he shifted his weight against the poor, overly, used mattress on the bottom bunk of his cell.
Two guards showed up and one of them took out a set of keys which jangled.
"Jessup, Bane R., get up son." He said as the other opened the cell door.
Bane eyed the two of them cautiously, remembering fully of what had happened the last time he was given an invitation to get out of his cell for a supposed "hearing".
"What for?" He asked.
Neither guards had answered him and they led him out of the prison block. They then had escorted Bane by gunpoint into a van with several other convicts.
As soon as they had left, Bane watched nervously as they drove down the road, having some sinking suspicion that he was soon to be attacked again by some demons sent out to kill him. Thinking back on that left him cold. He remembered watching the TV in the prisoner's lounge and had seen the announcement on TV of Prue Halliwell's death. It felt as if a knife had twisted slowly into his rib-joints. After that, all he could dream/think about was her. He began hoping for some kind of magical miracle, knowing that Prue and her sisters were magic, and that either by magic or some divine intervention, could she be brought back. All in the sheer hope that he'd be able to see her again, to breathe in her air, to touch her silky like skin, and to smell… to smell her long raven-like hair that had a wisp of some flowery scent to it. Despite the physical appeal, another thing he missed most, were her personality, her graciousness, and her temperament. All these thoughts consumed him as the van continued on and, to Bane's surprise, stopped in back of the courthouse.
It then struck him. His Public Defender had told him a parole hearing was coming up soon, and now, judging by the location; it seemed this was the place.
One by one the inmates filed up, their leg bindings clattered as they made their orderly filed marches to the back of the courthouse, waiting to be let in through the back entrance. Four, armed, guards stood on either sides, pacing up and down, watching, tentatively. In about twenty minutes, Bane was next inline and he stopped as the guard at the door stood, with an ear-piece, chewing on a toothpick as he surveyed, not only Bane, but the members behind him as well. The door behind him creaked open and the guard leaned forward, his eyes still on those in front of him, and listened to whomever it was that was behind the door, whispering; he then nodded.
"Alright, Jessup, come right on in." He said. He stood aside as Bane clinked his way inside the building. Inside, one man patted down Bane while the other knelt down and undid his leg restraints. The two then led him over to a long hallway where a white, uniformed, guard waited. Handing him over, a voice behind the door announced his name. The air-conditioned courtroom welcomed Bane as the bailiff led him to the bench where the public defender waited and soon Bane was put right next to him.
Bane sat and listened as the DA listed off all the known felonies Bane had been convicted of and then finished off with the escape he had made almost three two years ago. When he had finished, the DA told the judge of his recommendation that Bane should finish his sentence for the crimes he had committed; he then soon sat back down. The Public Defender rose and agreed with the DA about the crimes that Bane had commit in the past, however he refuted the charge of Bane escaping loose. He went on into a lengthy point-of-view about how Bane came out of prison with two men posing as guards who, which, were most likely men seeking to take out Bane in the open, and that Ban's only alternative was to allude them. He ended with Bane willingly giving himself up to authorities and his present record while being in the system being exemplary.
When all said and done, the judge looked at Bane with piercing eyes which were unreadable.
She then, loudly, told everyone of her decision, remarking on both sides viewpoints and then finally came to her own.
"The Court hereby appoints Mr. Jessup with Parole for twenty days. Should he be exemplary he shall have his case reviewed once more and maybe allowed free, permanently. Should he refuse to oblige to the rules under parole, he shall be sent back here for deliberation and thus sent back to fulfill his time. Am I clear, Mr. Jessup?"
"Yes, your Honor." Bane responded.
The judge nodded and banged her gavel, "Next case."
Prue bid Morris goodbye as she exited his vehicle to the ransacked apartment building across the street, close to Chinatown. Numerous amounts of gangland graffiti lay painted on the side of the building, yelling could be heard all over, followed by the early evening traffic.
Walking up the steps, Prue found all sorts of garbage littered in the stairway, baby cries welcomed her ears the closer she walked up the steps. Stopping at the first landing, she peered out of the dirty, half-broken window to see the landscape of San Francisco, the Golden Gate Bridge in plain sight.
Prue sighed, she never felt more lonely or scared as she was having been thrown into an entirely alien life. Proceeding on forth, she went up several more flights when she came to the first door to her left and noticed that on the door, under the number sign, that there was a pyramid with an eye cut into in, rather crudely.
Prue knocked on the door. Inside there were hushed whisperings followed by the clattering of glasses and loud trail of footsteps. Then, a single set of footsteps came toward the door and opened it, halfway, as it had been guarded by a chain-block.
A woman with fiery red hair, tied back with a bandanna, that had Smurfs on it, covered the top of it. Her heavily eye-lied eyes peered curiously at Prue.
"Who are you, what do you wand?" She asked.
Prue gulped, "Uh, my Whitelighter sent me, Leo."
The woman turned away and made a quieted discussion with the unseen others in the room before turning back to Prue.
"What's the formula for banishing a demon?" She asked.
Prue smiled; an easy answer. "Mortwrot-root, bat guano, thyme, and a slice of the demon's skin."
The woman went back to confer with the others before turning back and smiling. "Come on in."
Prue walked inside and was soon welcomed by a mixture of burning candles, mixing potions, and incense. Melissa Ethridge was playing off in the background.
She turned around to her bandanna-cladded friend.
"My name is Heather, by the way. Yours?" She asked, extending a hand, which Prue shook.
Prue thought for a moment and then said, "Matilda. My name's Matilda."
To be continued…
A/N: Hopefully you all realize that this story takes place in the middle of the fourth season as I had mentioned a reference to the "Black as Cole" episode.
All the sisters will see each other again, I assure you. Believe me, this is a hard story to make a Fanfic out of (not counting the fact that I've only seen four out of the eight seasons, so I'm way behind), so please keep your comments encouraging and respectful. All help is welcomed, so please give it.
Q-n-P